Posted: Dec 04, 2012 11:12 PM CSTUpdated: Dec 05, 2012 10:47 AM CSTBy Nikki Davidson - bio | email

Deputies: Woman beat up after asking for space at checkout

PACOLET, SC (FOX Carolina) -Deputies said two women are accused of attacking a customer at a Li'l Cricket store in Pacolet who asked them to give her some space while checking out.

According to Spartanburg County deputies, it was all because the victim asked the women to give her some space while she entered the pin code for her debit card at the cash register.

"All I wanted was a little bit of privacy, I didn't know it would lead to a beatdown," said the victim, Amanda Parker.
On Monday afternoon Parker stopped into the Li'l Cricket on Pine Street in Pacolet, never knowing she'd need to be rushed to the hospital by the time she was through.

"The line was long, I stood and waited and those two women had been at the counter the whole time," said Parker.
Deputies said the two women had bought lottery tickets and stayed at the counter while other customers, including Parker, were being helped around them.

"I said, 'Can y'all give me some privacy? I'm fixing to use my debit card,'" said Parker. "They just got real hateful, 'Well we don't need your money.'"

Investigators said the two women were 80-year-old Mary Wannamaker and 63-year-old Myrtle Smith.

"I tried to be respectful, they were older women," said Parker. "They kept mouthing and mouthing and when I got ready to walk out the door, they spit on me."

The sheriff's office said that's when the situation escalated.

"At this time the victim turned around, with an open hand slapped one of the suspects in the face and then the assault was on," said Lt. Tony Ivey with the Spartanburg Sheriff's Office.

According to witnesses, the fight moved outside, where the two suspects began beating the victim on the head with gallon jugs of windshield wiper fluid.

"Both of them were bigger than I was, and with having previous surgery, I couldn't defend myself," said Parker.

Eventually, two construction workers on the street saw the fight and intervened.

"The women could have easily killed this lady," said Ivey. "If those two road construction workers had not intervened based on their statements, she could have been very seriously injured."

But Parker said that seemed to be their intention.

"They threatened to shoot me in the head if they would have had their gun," said Parker.

Based on witness statements and the store camera footage, Wannamaker and Smith will be charged with second degree assault and battery, deputies said.

Deputies said the two women turned themselves in about 10 a.m. Wednesday and are awaiting a bond hearing.

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